Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component, and more particularly, to a multilayer ceramic electronic component having excellent reliability.
Description of the Related Art
As electronic products have tended to be miniaturized and high-functionalized, electronic components have correspondingly been required to have smaller sizes and higher degrees of capacitance. Due to the requirement for miniaturization and high amounts of capacitance in electronic components, multilayer ceramic electronic components are drawing attention as electronic components able to be miniaturized and provided with high levels of capacitance, and thus, demand for multilayer ceramic electronic components is increasing.
In order to realize miniaturization and high levels of capacitance in multilayer ceramic capacitors, internal electrodes thereof are required to be both thinned and laminated in large numbers.
In general, external electrodes provided on multilayer ceramic electronic components may contain a glass component, and the glass component may be diffused and penetrate into a ceramic body during a sintering procedure.
The diffusion of the glass component into the ceramic body may be increased in the case that an increased amount of internal electrodes is present in multilayer ceramic electronic components. The trend toward higher lamination amounts and thinning of internal electrodes may further increase the diffusion of the glass component into the ceramic body.
In the case in which the glass component present in the external electrodes is diffused into the internal electrodes, stress may occur, resulting in internal defects such as radial cracking and the like.
Related Art Document 1 discloses that a diffusion layer is provided on the entire surface of the ceramic body. Related Art Document 2 discloses that conductive portions having the same conductivity characteristics as those of external electrodes are included on portions of the outermost ceramic layers corresponding to positions of the external electrodes to thereby improve adhesion properties therebetween.